57 



field-glass. The raised reef shows strongly also along the 

 western side of the flat northwards of Ariangundu. The south 

 side of the reef is, along the north coast, completely covered up 

 by the great spreads of blown sands which occupj' the greatei- 

 part of the surface of tLie island. On the east side of the island 

 the reef does not e.xtend close up to the great temple, but stops 

 short abruptly about 300 yards to the north-east, and does not 

 re-appear on the coast of the bay south of the temple. South of 

 Pamban town also there were no signs of any upraised coral, 

 nor could I see any indication eastward along the south coast, 

 as far as the eye could reach from Coondacaul Mooudel Point, 

 while the great south-east spit terminating at the point called 

 Thunnuscody is covered by a double ridge of great blown sand- 

 liills. An important series of trial sinkings made by the Port 

 officer at Pamban right across the island, from north to south, 

 about 2 miles east of the town, in order to test the feasibility of 

 the propfjsed ship canal, did not reveal any southerly extension 

 of the raised reef. The probability is that it forms a mere 

 narrow strip along the beach from Pamban to Ariangundu, but 

 widens out thence to the north-eastward to form the northern 

 lobe of the island. 



" Parts of the reef lying between collections (colonies as it 

 were) of the great globular or cup-shaped coral masses form a 

 coarse sandstone made up of broken coral, shells, and sand 

 (mostly silicious) a typical coral sandstone. 



"At the Pamban end of the raised reef it shows a slight 

 northerly dip, and masses of dead coral, apparently in situ, 

 protrude through the sand below high-water mark. Reefs of 

 living coral fringe the present coast, but these I was unable to 

 examine, so cannot say whether the corals now growing there 

 are specificalh^ allied to those which formed the reef now 

 upraised, but all the mollusca and Crustacea I found occurring 

 fossil in the latter belong to species now living in the surround- 

 ing sea." 



Mr. Bruce Foote writes further : — 



"It is quite evident from the occurrence of the old coral 

 reef on Eamesvaram Island that the latter must have been 

 upraised several feet within a comparatively recent period, but 

 unfortunately there are no data by which to calculate the exact 

 amount of the upheaval. The upheaval which affected Eames- 

 varam Island doubtless affected the adjoining mainland, and, 

 by upraising the coast, exposed the sandstones, which have been 

 described above as forming a low wall-like cliff bordering the 

 beach as if by a built quay." 



H 



